7 Tips for Boosting the Weight Capacity of Your Crane

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Mary's Heavy Construction Equipment Blog

Welcome to my corner of the internet. My name is Mary, and this blog is going to be focused around heavy construction equipment. Years ago, my husband and I ran a construction company together. Now we're semi-retired, and for the last ten years, we have been doing a bit of freelance work. I miss the big machines, and I decided to start a blog about it. If you work with heavy construction equipment on a regular basis, I plan to have tips and ideas in this blog that are designed to help you. I invite you to grab a cup of tea, get comfortable and explore these posts. Thanks for reading!

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7 Tips for Boosting the Weight Capacity of Your Crane

4 January 2019
 Categories: , Blog


Have you recently changed what you lift with your crane? Are you looking for ways to optimize your crane's performance so that it can handle heavier loads? Then, you may want to explore the following ideas.

1. Use the Crane in Optimal Weather Conditions

If you're using a crane outside, the weather can impact the weight of the loads the crane can handle. In particular, winds can diminish the capacity of the crane. To ensure your crane can lift as much as possible, try to only use it in ideal weather conditions.

2. Upgrade Individual Components

Often, you can upgrade the individual components of a crane so that it can lift more weight. Generally, you need to hire a crane service expert. Then, they do a feasibility study where they look at the loads you want to lift as well as at your current crane. Finally, they replace mechanical and structural elements so that your crane can do more.

3. Reinforce Supports on Jib Cranes

Typically, you can only upgrade individual components on a freestanding crane, and you may not be able to do that with a jib crane. However, if your jib crane is mounted, you can reinforce the supports holding it up, and then, you may be able to increase the size of your loads.

4. Avoid Loads That Need Below-the-Hook Devices

There are a variety of attachments including roll lifters, tongs, pallets lifters, and others that can help you lift specific types of loads. All of these attachments are called below-the-hook lifters, and although they can help make specific applications easier, they also reduce the capacity of your crane.

5. Use Multiple Cranes

That said, there may be situations where you need to use a below-the-hook device. If you don't want to compromise your lifting capacity, you may want to use two cranes at the same time. In particular, you can use two cranes with a lifting beam. The load attaches to the beam, and the cranes lift either side of the beam.

6. Pay Attention to the Duty Cycle

During the life cycle of your crane, it can lose some of its strength. To ensure that your cranes are working at full performance, you should pay attention to their duty cycle. In other words, keep an eye on how often you use the crane, and if you are worried that you are using it too much, you should get it serviced and replace components as needed.

7. Consider Hiring a Crane

If you only need to lift a very heavy load once in a while, you may want to hire a bigger crane. Then, you can move your load without putting your existing equipment or yourself in danger.